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Benn: "I'll Make Van Heerden Respect Me"
Conor Benn has warned South Africa's Chris van Heerden that
he needs to be prepared for "a whole lot of firepower" when
they clash over 12 rounds for the WBA Continental
Welterweight Title at the AO Arena in Manchester this
Saturday April 16, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New
Zealand and Australia).
‘The Destroyer’ (20-0, 13 KOs) secured a stunning knockout
win over former World Champion Chris Algieri last time out
in December, taking out the American with a brutal right
hand in the fourth round of their top of the bill clash at
the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
Reflecting on his showreel knockout Benn said: “It was the
most dramatic finish of my career for sure. It was great
that I was able to put in that performance. I just went in
there with such confidence. Being confident in the ring...
you display it in your defence mechanisms, trust in your
reflexes, trust in your power.
“Having my dad ringside and seeing the raw emotion from him
was probably the most rewarding thing out of the whole
eight-week camp. Even during the fight and the feeling after
the fight. Watching that video back was, me watching someone
so genuinely happy for me. Nothing but happiness for his
son. That for me is so warming. It made me so emotional
watching it."
The 25-year-old Essex native is yet to come up against a
southpaw boxer in his 20 fights to date and is relishing the
challenge of locking horns with former IBO 147lbs Champion
van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs) - a seasoned veteran who has
only been stopped by Errol Spence Jr in 32 professional
fights.
“Every fighter I fight now moving forward is going to be
more experienced, but it means nothing to me," said Benn.
"Who they’ve fought and what they've done in their career
doesn't matter because they haven’t fought me. I know what I
can do and I know what I’m capable of. I believe in my work
ethic and I believe in my team. I believe in my mindset and
I believe in my physical attributes. I believe in my power
and I believe in my boxing ability. Bring me whoever, I’m
confident in what I can do."
'The Heat' hasn't held back with his pre-fight trash talk,
labelling Benn an "emotional, angry fighter" who relies
solely on his power. Benn is determined to prove his
doubters wrong once again and has promised to earn van
Heerden's respect as he aims to take another step towards a
World Title shot in the thriving Welterweight division.
“van Heerden is a good fighter, he’s a tricky fighter, he’s
a tough fighter. He’s a come forward southpaw and a former
World Champion. He’s been in there with the best. First
southpaw opponent – they’re definitely hard work that’s for
sure. You have to think a lot more. You have to demonstrate
a lot more skill. You can’t just go in there with the same
approach as you would with an orthodox fighter.
“He’s wanted this fight for a while. He told me he needed
this fight for himself, needed it for closure. We’ve made
the fight happen. Hopefully he comes prepared, which I
believe he will. He said he doesn’t rate my boxing ability.
If you don’t respect me then I’ll make you respect me. Chris
van Heerden needs to be ready for a whole lot of firepower.
He needs to be ready for someone who fights like he’s got
everything to lose."
Benn vs. van Heerden tops a huge night of action in
Manchester, Bournemouth’s European Cruiserweight Champion
Chris Billam-Smith (14-1, 10 KOs) rematch Belfast’s former
champion Tommy McCarthy (18-3, 9 KOs) following their epic
back and forth battle at the Matchroom HQ last summer, WBC
and IBO Super-Featherweight World Champion Alycia
Baumgardner (11-1, 7 KOs) makes the first defence of her
World Titles against Edith Matthysse (17-11-1, 1 KOs)
following her shock win over Terri Harper last November,
Little Lever’s Jack Cullen (20-3-1, 9 KOs) aims to bounce
back from his stoppage loss to Kevin Lele Sadjo in December
when he meets Vladimir Belujsky (12-3-1, 8 KOs) over eight
rounds, Hyde Lightweight prospect Campbell Hatton (6-0, 2
KOs) quickly returns to action against Lee Glover (11-9, 3
KOs) over six rounds, hard hitting Cruiserweight talent
Jordan Thompson (12-0, 10 KOs) clashes with Mariano Angel
Gudino (14-5, 9 KOs) over eight rounds, Alnwick Welterweight
Cyrus Pattinson (3-0, 1 KO) hopes to make it two wins from
two fights in 2022 when he takes on Alexey Tukhtarov
(5-28-6, 3 KOs) over eight rounds, Liverpool
Light-Heavyweight Thomas Whittaker-Hart (6-0, 3 KOs) faces
Ben Ridings (5-1) over six rounds, Salford Super-Lightweight
Luke Evans (11-0, 1 KO) locks horns with Miguel Cesario
Antin (19-10, 8 KOs) over six rounds while James Metcalfe
warms up for his European Middleweight Title fight with a
six round contest against Evgenii Vazem (9-26, 4 KOs).
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